Dear Holt County Residents:

It's been a hot, dry summer, as we are all aware. This has resulted in many long hours of firefighting by the O'Neill Volunteer Fire Department, along with all fire departments in Holt County and Boyd County. We have called, and been called, to Mutual Aid fires in Spencer, Atkinson, Ewing, Stuart, Chambers, Lynch, Page, Valentine, Butte and Harrison. In the last month we have run more grass fires than we would normally have in a year. A special thanks to Holt County taxpayers for the support of their Volunteer Fire Department. Without their support and the support of all the towns in our Mutual Aid District, some of our 60 to 80 acre fires could have turned into fires like we saw at Harrison. It was interesting to note at Harrison that when- we arrived we were sent to protect two ranches four miles north of town, with the only instructions being to not let the ranch house burn down. I kept expecting to see hundreds of firemen at the fire, but when we arrived, the only firemen we saw were from Stuart, Atkinson and Ewing. We did manage to save both ranches with the help of three motor graders and a pretty intense fire fight at 2 a.m., when the wind switched and changed the fire direction. I was extremely grateful to be working with a group of Holt County firemen at Harrison. I would like to thank firemen from O'Neill, Ewing, Chambers, Stuart and Atkinson for a job well done at Harrison, Valentine and all the fires at home. The combined cooperation and dedication of these people and the communities that support them, are one of the best reasons for living in rural Nebraska.

O'Neill Volunteer Fire Chief
Rod Ludemann